Antimony-sulfid-coated granulated explosive.



l E STA ES. ELTENT orrroEI WALTER fires-Am,- onmmemxm; mam, mssmerem a0 a. 1. an rem m:

comm. an mLmmemn,

No Drawing.

To all whom it of Wihn'ington, in the county of New Castle, and in the State of Delaware, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Antimony Sulfid Coated G'ranu lated Explosives, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof. Y

My invention relates to an improvement in explosives of various kinds prepared in the form of grains, but it relates particularly to an improvement in black gun powder and has special reference to the provision of coatings for explosives and black powder produced in the-form of grains.

Gunpowder, as hitherto manufactured, either for blasting purposes or for fire-arms, has been generally provided with a coating of graphite as the last step in its manufacture. Such coating of graphite has been commonly called glazing, -inasmuch as it produces a smoother surface upon the powder and as it renders the surface thereof glossy. Text'books referring to the glaziug produced by the coating of graphite state that such coating will reduce the hygrcscopicity of the powder and will cause it to run in the loading machines more easily, and will also assist in obtaining uniform ballistic results in fire-arms by the use of such powder.

It has been demtmstrated that the use of a coatin of 'ra )hite renders the owder less hygroscopic to only a negligible degree and, furthermore, that the ease of running in the hauling machines and bore holes is not dq'iendent only on the application of graphite but may also be obtained to an extent suflicient for most purposes by a rubbing of the grains by tumbling in a barrel. It has also been demonstrated that the use of graphite decreases the strength of the powder, when it is made a part of the composition therecf. v

The object of my invention is to overcome all of the above disadvantages and, in general, my invention comprises the production of a coating by the use of an antimony sulfid. This has the advantage of providing as a coating an active substance, inasmuch as antimony sulfid in itself is a desirable component of explosives. It is particularly advantageous in aiding quick ig- Waaasommam Pateiihodieauga25, 191a. lamination filed se -leaner 20, ms. Serial No. 799,815.

r H g nition, which is apparent from the fact that Be it known that I, Wm R. HIBBARD, v

antimony su'lfid is one of the'common com- .ponents used in priming compositions.

Graphite on the other hand is a non-active substance, asat burns with considerable difficulty compared with the other ingredients of the powder and as a consequence slows down the rate of-ignition.

While my invention is capable of being carried out in many different ways, for the purpose of illustration I shall set forth an examplein which it may be accomplished. For example, I may use as a coating antimony pentasulfid. The use of a coating of this character is more advantageous than graphite, inasmuch as itmay be applied in a fraction of the time required for the ap-' plication of a graphite and as a smaller quantity of the same may be used for this purpose. The antimony sulfid may be applied to the powder in exactly the same manner as graphite is now applied. That is, the powder as it comes from the mill may be dried in any suitable manner and the dust separated therefrom, whereupon the grain may be placed in a barrel revolving at a suitable speed and a small amount of antimony pentasulfid added to the charge. For example, two pounds of antimony pentasulfid may be added to a thousand pounds of powder, although a smaller or larger quantity of antimony pentasulfid may be used, according to the degree to which it is desired to change the character of the powder. The charge in the barrel is then revolved for a suitable time, for example from 15 to 30 minutes. We have, in some instances, been able to apply the antimony sulfid coating in shorter time, for example, ten minutes, but it is conceivable that with dif: ferent inethods the time required for coating might be longer even than 30 minutes. During the coating process the materials may or may not be heated, as found desirable, as for example according to the humidity of the atmosphere. 'It is also practicable to run the grain directly into a revolving barrel and let the charge revolve for a period of time, as for example, a few hours, during wh h time the powder may if desired b heated either by warm air being blown into it or by the friction generated by the revolvin of the powder. Thereupon, after the powder has become smooth and has been dried in the barrel and preferably after the dust has been separated from the powder, the

antimony pentaulfid may be added and applied as explained above.

While I have describedl my invention above-indetail, I wish it to be understood that many changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim: 1 1. An explosive, the grains of which are eoated with a sulfid of antimony." y

Witnesses: a

' Canvas 0. Bnoww, Tnoms 0. H0602, Jr. 

